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The highly anticipated final episode of Stranger Things landed on Netflix - and fans are in their feels about the hit Netflix series coming to an end after nine years.
*Spoilers ahead for the finale if you haven't watched it yet*
The last episode, titled "The Rightside Up", had a run time of two hours and eight minutes as we said our goodbyes to our favourite characters in Hawkins and the Upside Down.
What happened in the final episode?
There were plenty of fan theories ahead of the final showdown as many questioned which characters would make it out alive, and in the end, we saw Joyce Byers kill Vecna, aka Henry Creel and Mr Whatsit, as she beheaded him with an axe, and ultimately, the Hawkins gang put an end to his plan to merge the world with The Abyss.
Then, Kali is seemingly murdered when Hopper refuses to give up Eleven’s location.
The gang triggered the bomb to get rid of the Upside Down once and for all, and got back to MAC-Z before it collapsed. However, they noticed Eleven was missing and then saw her standing at the gate, still in the Upside Down, as she waited to disappear through the wormhole.
Eleven had an emotional goodbye with Mike in the void as the needle drop, Prince's Purple Rain played, and he could only look on as she disappeared along with the Upside Down.
But at the end, we see the old friends return to play Dungeons & Dragons in the Wheelers’ basement, back to where it all started, as Mike shares his hopeful theory that Kali was able to cast a final illusion of Eleven so that she could escape the Upside Down and avoid Dr. Kay (Linda Hamilton) and her army and live her life somewhere she can't be found.
We then saw a scene of Eleven walking in a remote location with two waterfalls.
How are viewers reacting on social media?
Since the last episode was released, fans have been sharing their thoughts on how the Duffer Brothers ended the show and whether they were satisfied with the character and story arcs.
There were many who were happy with the way the story concluded.
One person said, "What A Beautiful Ending To An Amazing Show. Goodbye Stranger Things."
"The Stranger Things Finale felt like a return to the shows prime form. Everyone hit their mark,it felt big, it felt epic, it was a worthy finale," a second person shared.
A third person added, "The Stranger Things 5 finale was beautiful there will never be a show like this ever again."
"Joyce doing absolutely nothing in the finale just to be the one to actually kill vecna That’s mama," a fourth person commented.
Someone else shared, "The Stranger Things finale was amazing and, in my opinion, ended the show in the best way possible."
Meanwhile, others were not so happy with how the show ended.
One person compared the ending to a Disney Channel show.
"Main villain killed halfway in, nobody important died, no explanation on Henry Creel's origin story, & only an 18-month time jump. Stranger Things finale was the stupidest f***ing ending I’ve seen, right up there with the Umbrella Academy," a second person posted.
"That Stranger Things 5 ending was kinda bunk... I was literally expecting a Vecna phase 2 for half an hour. Nope. And nobody important died or anything," a third person added.
"The worst possible ending," a fourth person commented.
"Me being happy with the Stranger Things finale and coming on Twitter to see everyone complaining," another person said.
The final episode of Stranger Things is now available to watch on Netflix.
Elsewhere from Indy100, Stranger Things: 6 of the biggest fan theories for final episode, and Stranger Things is getting a new spin-off - what you need to know.
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